Deputy shoots pot grow suspect near Glenn County

COVELO — A Mendocino County Sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man who reportedly leveled a rifle at him early Tuesday morning during the raid of a large pot grow in northeast Mendocino County.

The deceased man, suspected of tending the grow, has been identified as Angel Hernandez Farias, 24. Authorities said he is a transient, but haven't ruled out the possibility he is a Mexican national. Family members were located Wednesday and notified of his death.

The name of the deputy is being withheld pending the completion of a multiagency officer-involved-shooting investigation.

The incident took place in the Boardman Ridge area, about six miles northwest of the Glenn County line.

An eight-person enforcement team including deputies and peace officers from the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management entered the grow, on Forest Service land, before dawn.

Farias was seen walking into a large marijuana grow, accompanied by another man, about 6:45 a.m.

The wounded suspect ran about 30 feet before a sheriff's K-9 tackled him and brought him down, said Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman.

The rifle the man allegedly aimed at the deputy was recovered.

Officials said 11,635 marijuana plants were eradicated from the grow, which was being irrigated by water siphoned from a creek.